Best Resource for Reading About Classic Hollywood (2010)

No place in Los Angeles reveals the limitations of the Internet quite like the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences Margaret Herrick Library. The Herrick bills itself as the worlds preeminent cinema research facility, and the collection is certainly comprehensive, including photos, audio recordings, scripts, letters, costume and production-design drawings, storyboards, sheet music and the personal papers of such legends as Alfred Hitchcock, Hedda Hopper and George Stevens. Virtually any Hollywood laborer or public figure you can think of has a file of press clippings, including artifacts of dead publications and lots of articles that arent online. The Herrick is open to the public, but check the website before you go for hours and info on the strict rules for entry, most having to do with what you can and cannot take with you into the reading room (laptops yes, pens and cell phones no). 333 S. La Cienega Blvd., Beverly Hills. (310) 247-3020, oscars.org/library. Karina Longworth